


what if this storm ends?

by DecemberCamie



Series: Hunter x Dæmons [3]
Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst, Comfort, Daemon Settling, Daemons, Don't copy to another site, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:33:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23598412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecemberCamie/pseuds/DecemberCamie
Summary: “Did—Did you just call my soulpretty?”“Yeah? Why, is that a problem?”Killua opens his eyes again. Gon is still staring at him, gold eyes wide and innocent. Killua knows what he’s doing and he scowls at his best friend.“You’re just saying that to rile me up. You can’t call another person’s soul pretty, that’s—that’s ridiculous!”Gon shrugs. “Guess I’m ridiculous then.”Killua sputters. There’s no logic in Gon’s thinking—he doesn’t think there ever has been—but there’s an honesty and a truth in it that makes Killua’s breath catch in his throat.What does Gon really mean, when he compliments Killua's dæmon like that? What is he implying, if anything at all?
Relationships: Gon Freecs & Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck
Series: Hunter x Dæmons [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1516133
Comments: 26
Kudos: 163





	what if this storm ends?

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place during the Chimera Ant arc when Gon and Killua are traveling with Kite through NGL to find the Ant's nest.
> 
> The title of this fic comes from the song [The Lightning Strike by Snow Patrol.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0BDS0-ZwOw)

“What do you want Ariney to Settle as, Killua?”

Killua frowns up at the stars with his arms tucked under his head, watching as a comet streaks through the dark sky. The air is clear and clean here in NGL with no factories or pollution to cloud the view. Even Killua, with his vast experience in traveling, has never seen the night sky quite like this. 

...well, maybe not. There was that one time at Whale Island with Gon and Jax—Ariney had thought those stars were the most breathtaking things they would ever see. 

“Killua?”

The ex-assassin lets out a long breath through his nose. “Why are you asking me that for? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

Killua hears the sound of twigs breaking as Gon shifts on the ground next to him. “Well, yeah, but you’re not sleeping either!”

Killua turns his head. Gon is there, leaning on one elbow and staring at Killua with steady gold eyes. He’s giving Killua that all-too-familiar intense look of his—the one that says he won’t let this go, even if Killua tries his best to distract him. 

Killua hates that look, sometimes. 

“...that still doesn’t answer my question,” Killua says after a slight pause. “Why are you asking me this _now?_ It’s kind of random, even for you.”

Gon shrugs and twirls a blade of grass around one finger. “I was just wondering. Dæmons are supposed to Settle around puberty, right? So that means Jax and Ariney should be choosing a shape soon!”

The back of Killua’s neck prickles. Puberty. It’s inevitable for them both, and it’s already started if the three inches of height Killua’s got on Gon has anything to say about it. But there’s such a strange fragility and finality about the term. 

How would he and Ariney change in the coming years? How would Gon and Jax? Will they like the selves they grow into?

Killua stomps down the dread swelling in his chest. It’s stupid, to worry about things that haven’t taken place yet. He should really be worrying about _now_ , about what’s happening in NGL and what they might find the more ground they cover with Kite and Evacsa. 

“So, I was just wondering…” Gon shifts again, this time leaning closer to Killua with a whisper, “What do you think they’ll Settle into? It’ll be strange, I think, to not see them change all the time anymore.”

Killua wrinkles his nose. “They’ve already stopped doing that for the most part, Gon.”

Gon blinks, as if only realizing the truth for the first time. He sits up a little straighter and Killua follows his gaze to a few feet away, where their dæmons lay entangled on the ground. 

Unlike their humans, Gon and Killua’s dæmons are sleeping peacefully. Jax is in the form of a honey badger, curled into a small ball and pressing close to the warmth of Ariney’s coyote-shaped body. He’s been shifting back to that shape for a while now after discovering the animal on their adventures with Kite. He seems to like it, and Killua wonders how many times Jax will keep changing before Settling for good. 

A honey badger isn’t a bad Settling form. It actually fits Gon pretty well—honey badgers are tough, reliant creatures with soft fur and sharp claws. His size means Jax won’t be difficult to travel with and Gon can still carry him if he wants. 

But Ariney...Killua still isn’t sure about her. 

“Jax likes being that shape,” Gon says quietly, as if reading Killua’s mind. 

Killua hums. “It’s a good look on him.”

Gon quickly glances at Killua. “You really think so?”

A warmth creeps up Killua’s neck. “‘Course I do,” he grumbles. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it, dummy.”

Gon laughs quietly, eyes crinkling at the edges and round cheeks darkening a little. Something flutters in Killua’s chest at the sound, but he pays it no mind. 

If Ariney was awake, she would definitely tease him about that. There are all sorts of new feelings bubbling inside Killua when he looks at Gon these days and his dæmon hasn’t been at all afraid to point them out. But, luckily, Ariney isn’t awake to poke fun at him and the normally buzzing part of his mind that belongs to her is nothing more than a warm haze. 

“I think the shape is nice for Jax, too,” Gon sighs. He crosses his arms on the grass and rests his chin on them. But he keeps his stare on Killua, as if trying to pick him apart with his eyes alone. “And if he doesn’t choose that shape, Jax will figure it out sooner or later. But...what about Ariney?”

“What about her?” Killua asks. 

“Her Settling! What do you think she’ll choose? She’s never changed form as much as Jax, but even she’s starting to slow down, too. And I know you’ve noticed it, Ki-llu-a.”

Killua twists his lips. Gon is annoyingly perceptive when he wants to be. “I don’t know,” he says somewhat defensively. Settling is a personal topic, afterall. How a dæmon Settles says a lot about a person—it’s a little unnerving that Gon is so intent on getting an answer about it, actually. 

Killua looks back at the sky, saying vaguely, “She’ll decide on something, I’m sure.”

“There’s no shape you want her to choose?”

“Not...really? I don’t want to have any expectations for her.” 

Killua unwillingly thinks back to his family, to his grandfather and father with their sleek and large cat predators. They had Settled as predators. As something dangerous and wild. Even his mother, brothers, grandparents’ dæmons had chosen poison and claws and fanged animals rather than docile and soft-furred creatures. 

He knows what they are all hoping and longing for—for Ariney to Settle into the shape that is representative of the Zoldyck heirs. Another large cat dæmon. But Killua knows Ariney rejects everything about them that makes them Zoldycks. He hasn’t seen her in anything resembling a cat form in a long, long time. 

Whatever form she picks, will she fit in with the rest of their family’s dæmons? Will she choose to be dangerous and wild? Or will she decide on something entirely different?

There’s a scraping sound. Killua focuses back on Gon. The other teen is drawing shapeless shapes in the dirt with a spare twig he found. 

“I liked that one shape she took a while back,” Gon says thoughtfully. 

Killua frowns. “What shape?”

“That one when you fought that big guy in the third phase of the Hunter Exam?”

The Hunter Exam. Killua thinks back, back before they found Kite, before they defeated Bomber and Killua took his own Exam and passed. Back to when they had no idea about Nen or the Phantom Troupe or Gon’s father. 

Back to when they first met. 

“You took him and his bear dæmon on without Ariney, remember?” Gon yawns. “She stayed behind with us on the side. Leorio and Zora thought you were crazy.”

Killua snorts. “Yeah, well, Leorio’s a paranoid old man. What else would you expect from him?”

“Killua…” The warning is a half-hearted one—Gon’s grinning at Killua and Killua can’t help but grin back. There’s something infectious about Gon’s smiles. Something that warms Killua from the inside out. 

“What?” Killua asks, unapologetic. “It’s true.”

“He’s not _that_ much older than us.”

“He still thought I was weird for going after Johness by myself.”

“He was just worried! So was Kurapika!”

Killua rolls his eyes. “Kurapika can’t exactly talk. No one thought he and Dalinne would last against their opponents, either. Who would’ve known a marten could do that to a hyena?”

“No one,” Gon answers automatically. “But no one thought you could do what you did, either.”

Killua falls silent. Gon isn’t wrong. Killua had fought against Johness the Dissector and his colossal bear dæmon alone. He had been so used to fighting humans and their dæmons on his own back then, it was how he and Ariney were trained. While he took out the enemy, Ariney could obtain whatever other objective their family needed. 

And they’d both slipped into old habits that day they faced Johness. Killua, moving to fight alone against a tougher opponent. And Ariney, changing to…

Killua closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. “A cheetah. That’s what Ariney changed into that day.”

“Oh, yeah!” Gon sounds like he’s smiling. Killua doesn’t open his eyes to check. “That’s it! She looked really pretty then, with her gold fur and everything. She was so—so _poised_.”

Killua frowns. He can’t ignore the warmth in his cheeks or the twisting and turning of his gut. “Did—Did you just call my soul _pretty?”_

“Yeah? Why, is that a problem?”

Killua opens his eyes again. Gon is still staring at him, gold eyes wide and innocent. Killua knows what he’s doing and he scowls at his best friend. 

“You’re just saying that to rile me up. You can’t call another person’s soul _pretty,_ that’s—that’s ridiculous!”

Gon shrugs. “Guess I’m ridiculous then.”

Killua sputters. There’s no logic in Gon’s thinking—he doesn’t think there ever has been—but there’s an honesty and a truth in it that makes Killua’s breath catch in his throat. 

What does Gon really mean, when he compliments Ariney like that? What is he implying, if anything at all?

“All I’m saying,” Gon continues in that pleasant tone of his. “Is that I think Ariney looked nice in that shape. I think it suited her.”

“Like how the honey badger shape suits you and Jax?”

Gon nods. “Or how Evacsa’s shape suits Kite.”

They both glance over at Kite and his dæmon. Evacsa is curled up in a tree branch, her large and dark form barely visible between the leaves. Her human is leaning against the tree’s trunk, his arms folded and his blue hat covering his eyes. He looks like he’s sleeping. But Killua knows if he so much as takes a single step towards Kite, the experienced Hunter will jump into action. 

That’s what makes him a good Hunter. The danger of him is hidden in plain sight. 

“You only think Evacsa’s shape suits Kite because she’s almost as tall as him,” Killua teases as he turns back to his best friend and Gon’s cheeks color. 

“I do not!” he argues back. “I just...she’s graceful, like Kite. She doesn’t look like she’s dangerous, but she is. They fit.”

Killua doesn’t tease Gon for that. He knows what Gon is trying to say, despite his less than eloquent way of phrasing it. Evacsa has a long, sharp beak and even sharper eyes. She can extend her long next to strike without a moment’s notice and even Ariney has a hard time predicting her next moves. Evacsa really is the embodiment of Kite’s soul. 

Killua lets his eyes wander back to Ariney and Jax. He wonders if their dæmons will end up Settling as a true reflection of them as well. But only time—and, apparently, puberty—could tell that. 

“Hey,” Gon whispers and Killua looks at him. “No matter what form Ariney Settles on...I’ll always think she’s pretty.”

Killua really does blush then, the slight warmth from before giving way to a wave of heat as his face turns a horrible shade of red. Gon grins widely, mouth turning up at the corners and glee flooding his eyes, and Killua has to resist the urge to throw dirt into his face. 

Instead he just scowls and flops over onto his side, his back facing Gon as he yanks his blankets up to his chin. 

“Just—Just shut up and go to sleep, Gon.”

Gon laughs and that _something_ in Killua’s chest gives a helpless little flutter. Killua closes his eyes and breathes. 

Killua doesn’t need to worry about things like Settling and puberty and Gon. He, Ariney, Gon and Jax have time and the whole world to find themselves before they track down Ging. And hopefully, they’ll have time after that, too. 

Because if Killua and Ariney have learned anything during this wild journey, it’s that being with Gon and Jax is an adventure. And they don’t want to leave their sides anytime soon. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've finished a few different hxh fics lately and I decided to post this fic! It's been a while since I posted anything related to this series but I think about it pretty often and have a good amount written for this au. I wrote this current fic a few months ago, but waited to post it for when the time was right. Thank you for clicking on and reading it! ^-^
> 
> There's a few references in this fic to the Third Phase of the Hunter Exam arc which takes place in Trick Tower. I mentioned Majtani, who is Kurapika's opponent, and I decided to have his dæmon Settled as a hyena. Johness the Dissector is Killua's opponent and I chose to make his dæmon Settle as a grizzly bear. I actually wrote a whole drabble about Killua and Ariney fighting against Johness the Dissector a few years ago, which I'll probably post on here someday, but if you would like to read that drabble now you can click [here!](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/post/154169675103/the-two-of-us-are-just-young-gods)
> 
> [[Here's my dæmon au tag](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/tagged/daemon-au) on my tumblr if anyone would like to know more about this daemon au!]  
> (And [here's](https://twitter.com/decembercamie) my twitter)
> 
> -
> 
> Gon Freecss — (m) Jax (full name Jaxtor). During the time this fic takes place, he isn't Settled but favors the shape of a honey badger. Eventually he Settles as a wolverine when he and Gon see Kite’s manipulated body without Kite’s dæmon.
> 
> Killua Zoldyck — (f) Ariney (formerly Ariadney). During the time this fic takes place, she isn't Settled and doesn't favor a specific shape, though she doesn't change shape as often as she did when she and Killua were younger. Eventually she Settles as a spotted cheetah when Killua pulls out Illumi’s Needle. She also has lighter fur than average cheetah due to Godspeed.
> 
> Kite — (f) Evacsa. Settled as an anhinga. Kite looses his dæmon during his fight with Pitou when he dies. As an Ant later in the series, he no longer has a dæmon.
> 
> Kurapika — (f) Dalinne. Settled as a yellow throated marten.
> 
> Leorio — (f) Zora. Settled as a dingo.
> 
> Majtani — (f) currently unnamed. Settled as a hyena.
> 
> Johness the Dissector — (f) currently unnamed. Settled as a grizzly bear.


End file.
